The Wings of Dreams

must be a lot to recommend about her.”
    “Or so it would seem. Thing is, she’s as contrary as she is strong-willed.”
    “So you’re saying she’s a handful.”
    Gankyuu glanced up at Shushou, waiting for him at the top of the slope. “That little girl is clever as a fox. And that makes her one big pain in the ass.”

Chapter 18
    [3-2]  Y ouma attacked the campsites on the shores of the lake that very night.
    Sensing Rikou and Gankyuu moving about, Shushou awoke from a light sleep. I don’t believe it, she thought. She hadn’t gotten up before the screams filled the air. Sheer amazement overshadowed the cold thrill of fear.
    As before, no sooner had the cries turned to exultations but they’d packed their bags, leapt onto the kijuu, and bolted down the hill.
    The rest having become accustomed to the routine, the number of people fleeing the campsites had grown with each attack. They quietly ran away, descended the banks and quickly put distance between themselves and the shore.
    Around dawn, those riding kijuu slowed their pace so the rest of the caravan could catch up. Having set off at the speed of a galloping horse, the wait gave them a bit of breather.
    As he always did, Gankyuu sought out the right place to rest and secure his haku. He glanced over his shoulder. “We’ll take—” a break here, he was going to say, but instead found Shushou standing there glaring daggers at him.
    “We need to talk,” she said.
    “What about?”
    “Let’s go someplace where there aren’t people around.”
    “Don’t be silly.”
    “No, I want you to come with. I don’t think even you’ll want anybody overhearing what I have to say.”
    For a long moment, Gankyuu took in the sight of the enraged young woman standing there in the gray morning light.
    “Fine.”
    He untied the haku—still saddled with the travel packs attached—and climbed on. Then turned to Shushou and extended his hand. She quietly joined him.
    “I’ll go too,” Rikou volunteered.
    “I’d rather you didn’t,” Shushou said.
    “Don’t misunderstand. I won’t interrupt. I promise to simply observe without saying a word.”
    Without pausing for a yea or nay, Rikou mounted up. Shushou said nothing more. Gankyuu didn’t object either and urged the haku forward. The haku picked its way through the maze of fallen trees. A minute later, they reach a small hill overlooking the rest of the caravan, that had stopped halfway down the slope.
    At the crest of the gently rising knoll was a overgrown grove of still-standing, still-green trees, old branches piled up around their trunks. Gankyuu stopped behind the grove. Rikou brought the suugu to a halt a few yards off. He sat on a fallen tree. The resting caravan was visible through the branches of the thick undergrowth.
    Gankyuu sat down in the hollow formed by the dead tree. Shushou stood in front of him. With a glance at Rikou, Shushou drew in a deep breath and returned her gaze to Gankyuu, sitting there on a moss-covered stump.
    “What were you and Kinhaku talking about last night?”
    Opening the mouth of the leather satchel he was carrying, Gankyuu responded to the pointed question with a wan smile. “You made a point of calling me out about that? I’m sure you heard what we were talking about.”
    “You were discussing how you’d like youma to show up.”
    “Indeed we did,” said Gankyuu. He upended the satchel in front of the haku. A part of a feathered wing rolled onto the ground with a dull thud.
    “Hold on. What’s that?”
    “That is a piece of a youma.”
    “What are you doing with it!”
    Gankyuu looked back at her, the expression his face telling her that was a stupid question. As if waiting for a treat, the haku buried its snout in the carcass.
    “The haku’s eating it? A youma?”
    Gankyuu shrugged. “Kijuu don’t mind the flavor.” He sliced off a chunk of the wing with his sword and heaved it into the air. It traced a long arc and landed in front of Seisai.
    Watching the kijuu eagerly devour it, Shushou shuddered. “Don’t make them eat weird stuff like that.”
    “Even a kijuu will waste away if not fed regularly. Haku are omnivores. Suugu can get by on an agate diet, but they need meat. Their bodies won’t function properly without it.”
    Shushou grimaced. She looked back and forth from the haku to the suugu, and with a single shake of her head turned her attention to Gankyuu.
    “You hoped that youma would show up. And youma showed up. What is